god of thorns - design concept // april MOTM // nsfw-ish (Patreon)

thanks again to nak for suggesting a thorny/spiky monster!

"god of thorns" instantly made me think of a being who's as old as the meadows and woods she inhabits. perhaps she sprung from the earth along with the first flowers and trees, tasked with guarding nature from those who wont respect it? or maybe she's a sharper aspect of mother earth, armed with thorns that stab and cut instead of heal and nurture?

either way, she's a nature deity, and so i wanted to incorporate more plant elements into her design. but lush, vibrant leaves or soft flower petals wouldn't suit her spiky vibe. instead i went with twisted roots and vines that wrap over and around each other like old bony fingers. the entwined shapes of these roots are partially inspired by overgrown temples like angkor wat, where trees sit perched on the old stonework.

her feet look like roots that merge into her calves, almost like prominent sinews or bulging veins. a similar pattern partially covers her thighs and ribs, and the muscles of her neck also take the shape of roots. but the most prominent element is of course her hair, made up of long vines that each resemble a thorn-clad whip. and yes, her hair is prehensile. (shout-out to futakuchi-onna, a yokai with prehensile hair and a second mouth on the back of her head, who kind of inspired this design choice.)

she's adorned with thorns in all shapes and sizes, ranging from small spikes to the hooked red "claws" that sprout from her thighs, elbows, shoulders, and head. i always love a monstrous face where all (or most) of the standard features have been replaced by something stranger. in this case, i randomly sketched a bunch of thorns where her eyes and nose should be, leaving only a mouth (and note how her upper and lower jaws fit together like splintered wood).

in nature, thorns serve the purpose of protecting plants from herbivores. they cause small wounds and scrapes which can lead to infections that are not to be trifled with. such thorns don’t draw a lot of blood — but the same cannot be said for this deity. she protects and attacks, with claws and fangs that also resemble thorns. for this reason i think she's also a goddess of blood, capable of ripping apart those who invade her woods without permission.

i wanted her colour palette to reflect this secondary aspect, so her body is mostly a muted red, which fades into the desaturated grey-green of her limbs. the thorns range from dark green and brown to a striking red hue, like on some plants i saw while looking for inspiration. her antlers were an afterthought, because antlers always seem to make a nature spirit look more divine. they're lined with more thorns and have a wooden texture -- not to mention a watchful set of eyes.

lastly, i added jewellery to make her look more regal. these accessories were originally meant to be a copper colour, but as i was messing around with layer settings i "accidentally" achieved the holographic/mother-of-pearl look. it made for a more unusual colour combination, and i also think it makes her seem even more divine and otherwordly.

now, all the monikers i listed in the caption of the painting should make sense. she's a "consumer of cities" because of how both ancient ruins and post-apocalyptic towns can be overgrown with roots and vines. "the bloodletting lady" and "she who drinks wine out of veins" of course refers to shedding blood, as she "wields her strength as both sword and shield." she "protects the worthy" when they thread carefully and humbly through the brambles — but "slays the proud" who barges into her woods uninvited.

// art + character © me.